I Hired A Tailor And He Stole My Clothes...

So in August of 2022, I had hired a tailor based off of a friend's recommendation. The tailor came over to my old apartment, repaired a couple of pieces, and took the others with him. I paid him $200 upfront for services, and even let him take some pieces that I was getting rid of. However, almost 2 years later, I haven't gotten my items back.

The items he took for a longer repair included a vintage Levi's jacket, a vintage Pink Floyd t-shirt from a concert in the 90's, a custom made pair of jeans with patches on them, and a pair of Talbot's vintage jeans. All of these pieces had sentimental value to me, especially the t-shirt and jean jacket, which were supposed to be combined into one item. These 2 pieces were given to me by my dad.

Over the last year and a half, I have messaged this man multiple times every month asking for my items back. He would agree to meet or ship them, and then never follow through. Eventually it got to the point where he was not replying to my messages at all. Around November of last year, I decided to step up the game on getting my items back. I posted about the incident on Instagram, and got my dad involved. Finally, I got a reply and thought we were on the right track again.

Fast forward a few more months to last Friday night: I pulled up to stop light that was on the same block as my house. The car next to me motioned for me to roll my window down. The person driving looked like someone I had known years ago, and so I did. They taunted me, telling me they were wearing my dad's jacket. I said "Can I get that back?" They laughed and then said "Yeah, if you race me for it," and sped off. I was so shaken up, especially considering the proximity of this interaction to my house. Have they been stalking me? Do they know the address of my new place? Why harass me over my own items that I am rightfully owed?

I called the police the next day and got an item statement. I figured out that the driver of the car was a friend of the tailor. I decided to proceed with a lawsuit and gave the tailor a warning that things were progressing. He seemed to be unbothered and still declined to give me my items back.

My dad found his mom's work phone number and called her yesterday. She seemed very concerned about the situation and said she would talk to her son. I received a text last night from the tailor that simply said "Your money was refunded. I'm keeping the pieces I've worked on." There was a pending transaction in my Cashapp for $200 from the tailor. His mom must have talked to him, but my issue with this is that the pieces he has now admitted to stealing were never for sale. If I take this money, does it somehow enter me into a separate contract of never getting my items back?

I have a whole Google Drive folder full of evidence at this point and made a call to an attorney yesterday. The police officer that I had talked to the other day said I could sue for emotional damages on top of the actual price of goods. However, I have been so paranoid that I am being stalked since the other night. Is there anything I can do right now until I hear back from the attorney in order to protect myself?